Even though I’m thinking about other things...

[johnny9fingers]

When this crossed my desk I felt I had to comment:

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/10/murdered-chechen-separatist-zelimkhan-khangoshvili-had-killed-on-russian-soil-says-putin

And I wondered how the German press portray the politicians of any stripe who are or were, er, um, apologists for Uncle Vlad’s extra-judicial actions?

So if something like this happened in your nation; and folk died because of some odd external, Russian-linked action, how would you feel about the folk who deflected, temporised, defended, or apologised for such things? I mean to say, let due process take its course and then take action. “Beyond reasonable doubt” used to be the benchmark.

Then I wondered; can we blame the Ukraine yet?

Now it may well be that Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was a nasty, evil man, with murderous sins staining his soul. So Uncle Vlad goes for the low-hanging fruit that everyone wants rid of; but establishing and re-enforcing a precedent that it is ok to send assassins into any territory to kill your enemies.

So my questions to the panel are as follows:

Is it likely that someone other than the Russians offed Khangoshvili?
If it was a Russian action, was the extra-judicial killing justified or was it murder?
And if it was murder, what action by Germany seems appropriate and proportionate?

Comments

[mikeyxw]

Is it likely that someone other than the Russians offed Khangoshvili?
Likely? No. It's certainly in the realm of possibility, so some care is needed. If one country misattributes some random killing to Russia, every future assassination will be suspect... and an entire army of folks will be there to question them.

If it was a Russian action, was the extra-judicial killing justified or was it murder?
Of course it's not justified. There was no imminent threat. File for extradition, if the Germans don't hand him over, use diplomatic pressure. They could have had a kangaroo court convict the guy and shot him anyway. This was to send a message, well, another message.

And if it was murder, what action by Germany seems appropriate and proportionate?
The most important thing is that Germany shouldn't have to do this alone. This is something that could happen to every NATO country and others. There should be coalitions built up around this so the next time, when it happens in Belgium, France, or Italy, there will be a group ready to, well, expel a diplomat or two. Nothing serious is going to happen in response to this single instance, after all, Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed some territory and very little happened.

[johnny9fingers]

The most important thing is that Germany shouldn't have to do this alone. This is something that could happen to every NATO country and others.

Indeed. After the Skripal poisoning there seemed to be a good collective response. There needs to be some co-ordination to ensure a similar response in this case.